Woody Allen and "Mad Money" Jim Cramer

Well, I won the club speech contest today...I was the only contestant. Last Friday there were three contestants, but by Monday two dropped out. Must have been a tough weekend.

However, it's good that I thought there would be two additional competitors. Otherwise, I wouldn't have practiced this weekend and my speech wouldn't have been as good. As it was, I practiced last night between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. -- after my nap but before dinner.

Winning (by default) put me in mind of one of my favorite quotes. Director, actor and humorist Woody Allen once said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

I can't tell you how many times that has been true in my life. My evaluator thought I did a good job and thanked me for competing. Since I'm the club winner, my next contest is Saturday, March 21st, at 9:30 a.m. in the basement of the Bismarck library.

I doubt I'll be the only contestant there, so I'll have to keep practicing. The hard part now is honing your speech so it gets better, without practicing it so much that you get tired of it. And while Belinda and Scott will probably tire of listening to it, Grandpa will think it's fresh every time he hears it. He's a very appreciative audience.

However, let's return to talking about favorite quotes...although I certainly won't memorize this one...I did find it very telling. As you know, CNBC's Jim Cramer has been critical of late regarding the economic decisions of President Obama and his so-called team of experts. So, this is part of his rebuttal.

President Obama's team, unlike Bush's team, demonstrates a thinness of skin that shocks me. When I somewhat obviously and empirically judged that the populist Obama administration is exacerbating the crisis with its budget and policies, as evidenced by the incredible decline in the averages since his inauguration, I was met immediately with condescension and ridicule rather than constructive debate or even just benign dismissal. I said to myself, "What the heck? Are they really that blind to the Great Wealth Destruction they are causing with their decisions to demonize the bankers, raise taxes for the wealthy, advocate draconian cap-and-trade policies and upend the health care system? Do they really believe that only the rich own stocks? What do they think we have our retirement accounts in, CDs? Where did they think that the money saved for college went, our mattresses?

So, I'm following what I learned in journalism school. Quote people only when you can't say it better yourself.

Does anyone watch MSNBC? I can't stomach it, but I'm wondering if the commentators are willing to attack Cramer who works for their sister station, just as they do Rush Limbaugh and others who disagree with the President.